Tim Paul | Illustrator + Illustration | New York NY | Tim Piotrowski

Monthly Archives: November 2009

I love the texture I got on the wainscoating. It looks like painted wood, where the wood wasn’t treated, and the paint is peeling off, following the grain of the wood, and that the paint has become discolored in spots. There’s something splattered on the baseboard.

Um, I can’t remember how I did it. I hate when I do that. It was one of those moments where, trying new things, clicking here and there, using new brushes and just going to town, and when it was done, I was asking myself “How exactly did I do that?”

I need to get into the habit of taking a few notes while I work and figure/find a way of doing something. I have the original art, still broken down in layers, so I can go back and look at stuff, and maybe figure a few things out.

I guess it’s the nature of the beast, when you are in the zone, and things are flying fast and furious.

NOTE: There won’t be any figure drawing this week, as it’s a Holiday week.

It’s Thursday, so that means last night I was at my weekly figure drawing group. We used a new space last night, which was a combination studio/living area for several people, so it was very eclectic, 100% awesome. Wanna see? Of course I took a pano of the space!

Click to see larger

I felt it was a very good session for me. I focused more on cleaner lines, more confidence in when I make my marks. I think it really paid off. I feel I’m getting better proportions, and more in. I bought a bigger sketchbook, so I’m not cutting off hands and feet so much. If I have one rule during these sessions, it’s to NOT cop out on the hands and feets and heads.

So, if you find your normal drawing size doesn’t work with the sketch book you have, get a larger one. Mine is a little larger then a laptop, and it fits into my backpack. Finding the tools and materials that you feel work well for you is so important.

Some times, trying to draw every day, is hard because you think, what to draw. I could certainly draw my husband every night, as he watches tv or reads, or catches up with people on Bookface.

But one thing I seldom do, is find photo references and work from that. See, for some reason, it’s taken me a long time to work that into my workflow process. And it’s a concept I fully understand. it’s not so much about copying, but having a reference source for what you are drawing. Lets say you need to draw an old wrinkly women. You can sit there, trying to visualize what wrinkles on a face look like, or just go find some examples and ta da! Thank you google images.

So, I also play Dungeons and Dragons, and I thought, it would be fun to draw some of the people in the city where the players are currently living as a visual aid for the players. I had ideas on what they looked like in my head, and started sketching things down. And of course, when I wasn’t quite getting what I saw, or having to make a lot of changes, I thought, what a great time to go to the intrawebz, and find some reference material!

In one case, I liked the top half of the face for the drunk I wanted to draw, but I didn’t see him having a full beard. I found another face I liked the mouth and jaw, so quickly photoshopped them together, and I had a good reference for my drunk.